Guilty Pleasures: Jilly Cooper

I discovered Jilly Cooper on a trip to the UK just after college.  In either W.H.Smith or Waterstones, I picked up a copy of her book RIDERS and was completely hooked. This was back in the late 1980's when glitz and glamour novels were in.  It was the heyday of DYNASY and DALLAS where everone had big hair and big shoulder pads. RIDERS was a big fat juicy book, something like 600 pages set in the competitive world of riding competitions which you wouldn't think was sexy but in Cooper's hands totally was.  Think about it, what does riding a horse mimic? Now I understand why Princess Anne and her daughter Zara Philips love the sport so much!

For an ardent Anglophile like me, this book was manna from heaven.  I was used to reading historical fiction about the UK and the occasional Harlequin Presents but Jilly Cooper opened up a whole new world for me.  It was glamorous, this world of the horsey set.  When she moved onto the sport of Kings, POLO, I was hooked. It's not that I ever wanted to ride a horse, but I did want to go to Ascot or to Windsor to watch the Polo matches with Princess Diana. Sipping champagne while watching the men ride.

The hero of RIDERS is Jake Lovell who is part gypsy, think of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights but not quite so brooding, who has to claw his way up to make to the British Olympic team. but the real star of the book was bad boy Rupert Campbell-Black.  Campbell-Black was such an appealing character that he's made appearances in every single Jilly Cooper book since then.  Rupert is the quintessential bad boy, rich and privileged, he shags pretty much anything that moves in RIDERS, ruining his relationship with his American wife Helen.  Despite being a bad boy, there was something appealing about Rupert, he was so charming about his vices that you couldn't help but adore him.  He was finally tamed as it were in Cooper's book RIVALS (also known as PLAYERS),  one of the few books of hers that was actually released in the States. 

RIVALS deals with the machinations in English TV which doesn't sound sexy but their system is so different from ours. Companies compete to get the TV license to broadcast.  They don't really have networks the way we do in the States. For a long time it was just the government controlled BBC.  I cherish my Bantam trade paperback of RIVALS, it's one of my comfort reads.  In RIVALS, Rupert falls deeply in love with Taggie, a dyslexic teenager.  He knows that she's too good for him besides being half his age, but he adores her and despite his good intentions of staying away from her, they eventually end up getting married. The bad boy has been tamed by the love of a good woman.

I've read all of Cooper's books, and what I love besides the continuing characters from one book to the next, is that the books are huge.  Not many authors can get away with writing the doorstops that she writes.  She's just so damn entertaining! Several of her books have been adapted for TV including RIDERS and THE MAN WHO MADE HUSBANDS JEALOUS.  Her new book JUMP returns to the world that she first showcased in RIDERS.  I'm going to wait until it comes out in mass market because if I drop it on my foot I might break it! Unless of course I somehow get an IPad than I can download and not worry about injuring myself.

Guilty Pleasures: The Bold and The Beautiful

Ah, The Bold and The Beautiful, a 1/2 hour of Guilty Pleasure every day. Watching this show is like having a decadent piece of dark chocolate. But just like chocolate, you can have too much of a good thing which is another reason why I like B&B. It's only a 1/2 hour everyday which is manageable for me.  I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that most of the remaining daytime shows could take a leaf out of B&B and either scale back to a 1/2 hour or learn how to write tight.

B&B revolves around The Forrester family who own Forrester creations and their rivals Jackie M. What cracks me up about this show is that they are probably the only two fashion houses that have no gay designers on staff. I have a friend who is jonesing for Thomas Forrester to come out of the closet (which would be fabulous and might actually justify the actor who plays him the Emmy he won this year for basically doing nothing).  Jackie M is sort of the low-rent version, say Allen B to Forrester's Carolina Herrera.  Forrester Creations is classy while Jackie M relys on sex to sell their line.  Jackie M is now being designed by Bridget Forrester who used to be a doctor (don't ask, it's too long a story), and is owned by Nick Marone, Ridge Forrester's half-brother.  There's also Bill Spencer who owns Spencer Publications which produces glossy fash mags.

The lovely blonde on the left is Brooke Logan Forrester Forrester Forrestor Marone Forrester among other names. She's the heroine of the show or at least one of them. From the wrong side of the tracks, she fell in love with Ridge Forrester at first sight and has spent the past 23 years trying to win his love, often vying for it with brunette beauty Dr. Taylor Hayes.  Along the way Brooke has married Ridge's father (by whom she had two children) and both of his brothers. She also had an affair with her daughter's husband (the father of child number 3) and now she's 'accidentally' had sex with her other daughter Hope's boyfriend at her Hope's graduation party (don't ask, it's a long story). 

The stories on the B&B move quickly, almost too quickly. Certain storylines (the death of matriarch Stephanie Forrester's estranged mother Anne, Beth Logan's death) were over in like a week.  Nick Marone who just found out that his wife slept with his much younger stepfather just filed for divorce and slept with another woman, all within like a week. I'm beginning to think that the head writer and executive producer Brad Bell has ADHD.  On the other hand, the show is filled with impossibly beautiful people, seriously this is probably the best looking cast on daytime. Not that the acting is terrible, Susan Flannery could give master classes in acting.  They've even managed to attract Patrick Duffy to play the recurring role of Stephen Logan.

The best change the show has made was changing Steffy Forrester from rather boring to a miniature version of her namesake and grandmother. When she first came on the show she was involved with a boring romance with her sister's and her mother's ex-boyfriend Rick Forrester (don't ask, it's too long a story) which bordered on incestuous. Now she's a schemer who will stop at nothing to get rid of the Logan family who she feels have take over the family business and dragged them down. Also Brooke Logan stole her father from her mother Dr. Taylor Hayes, the former alcoholic pyschiatrist.

I'm telling you this show is like crack, I can't stop watching it. It's the only soap that I watch on a regular basis.  Try it, and see if it doesn't become a guilty pleasure for you too!

Guilty Pleasures: Celebrity Apprentice

First let me just say that I can't stand Donald Trump. I think that he's atrocious, the damage he did to the old Bonwit Teller building when he built Trump Tower, the horrible buildings that he's put up, all with his name slapped on the front, his ginormous ego, and that squirrel that sits on top of his head, all make my skin crawl, the horrible vicious things he's said about Rosie O'Donnell (and I'm not a huge fan of hers). I don't think that he's a nice person, so why in the world do I watch Celebrity Apprentice?

Well, he's only on the show for the first 5 or ten minutes and then at the end, which means there's a good 1 1/2 when I don't have to see him. Two, I like the fact that the celebrities are playing for their favorite charity. I didn't watch the first 2 seasons of Celebrity Apprentice, and the only reason I started watching this year was because of Curtis Stone, but I'm glad I did if only for this man on the left: Bret Michaels. Dude, I hope you recover from your brain hemorrage to continue to rock and roll and to make hilarious reality TV shows. Yes, Bret Michaels, the skank loving former lead singer of Poison and star of Rock of Love has won me over. Yes, he's a total horndog who will hit on anything with breasts but the man is hysterical and wonderfully creative, and a loving father. His concern for his daughter who might have diabetes (which he has) was so touching. Who knew?

Plus I would have missed out on the fun that was former Governor of the great state of Illinois Rod Blagojovich who has somehow managed to make it to the 20th century without learning how to a) turn on a computer, b) learn how to send a text message or c) send an email.  Watching him in the boardroom with Trump as Trump tried to give him an out to keep from firing him was Must See TV. Blagojovich is the slipperiest politician I have ever seen. He makes Huey Long look like a paragon of virtue. Seriously it made me wonder about the voters in Illinois that they could a) send Obama to the Senate (yeah!) but b) elect Blagojovich as a Governor. The man is useless and the more he talked or didn't talk on the show (since he never said anything of substance), the more he dug a hole for himself. The best thing this guy could do for himself is stay away from the media.

And I have forgotten the Double-Mint twins Sharon Osbourne and Cindy Lauper who made all the women on their team cringe Well actually is was just Cindy who rubbed people the wrong way since Sharon was sick for three of the tasks. See Cindy feels that people don't respect her experience and authority since she's older than the other women in the competition. According to her, they should just shut up and show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The other women like Holly Robinson-Peete and Summer Sanders feel that they have a right to their own opinion. Imagine that?

What's interesting is that even with all the hormornes and conflict amongst the women (who called their team Tenacity) they still ran rings around the men, winning 4 challenges in a row. They only lost 2 team members while the men lost like 5 men (Darryl Strawberry basically begged Trump to fire him and Michael Johnson quit for 'personal' reasons).

The best part of last week's episode was Team Rock Solid's Rock Groupie Work-Out which they created for 24 Hour Fitness. Watching Brett Michaels lead this women in riding the pony and air guitar was priceless. That and the woman who told Michaels that he was one of her 5 free passes from her husband, and Michaels pulling her towards the bathroom as if to comply. They won the $24,000 for creating a great work-out but Holly Robinson-Peete managed to beat them in raising money which is amazing since as HRP said Sharon Osbourne can just call up Sir Elton John and Sting.

I will definitely be glued to the TV for this finale.

Guilty Pleasures: Pringles

Yes, I confess, I love Pringles. I know they are salty as all get out, and made from potato flakes but there is just something so irrestible about those cans, although after British comedian, Johnny Vegas told Graham Norton what he did with one during a show, I'm a little less enthused. Pringles were first introduced in 1968 by Proctor and Gamble but they didn't really take off until the 1970's.  They were named after a street in Cleveland, OH. Initially they were known as Pringle's Old-fashioned potato chips, but they were forced to call them potato crisps because of how they were made and the fact that they contain less than 50% potatoes. I'm not sure I really want to know what the rest of it is made of. I just realized that Pringles are probably made from those same instant mashed potatoe flakes!

In the UK, you can get interesting flavors like Prawn Cocktail, Thai, and Curry flavorings. And recently Pringles introduced limited edition flavors in the US of Onion Blossom, Mozzarella Sticks, and Pizza. I have to admit, I kinda want to try the Onion Blossom flavor. They've also come up with Multi-grain Pringles which are probably totally healthy, but not something that I really wanted to eat.

Guilty Pleasures: The Olive Garden

It's popular to make fun of The Olive Garden. The cheesy commercials featuring friends and family getting together for a meal, and the tag line, "When you're here, you're family," almost demand it. There was an episode of The Bachelor with Andrew Firestone when when of the bachelorettes confided that her favorite chain restaurant was The Olive Garden much to his disgust. Yes, I could probably have better Italian food at home  if I opened a jar of Bertolli's and a package of pasta, but I wouldn't get unlimited breadsticks and salad, now would I?

Apparently Olive Garden has a culinary institute in Tuscany where they and all their chefs to be trained in Italian cuisine. Um, I've been to Italy and I don't remember having food there like they serve at the Olive Garden. Frankly, there are other chain restaurants that I like better, P.F. Chang's (why oh why do we have a Chevy's in NY but no P.F. Chang's?), Bonefish Grill, Legal Seafoods but the Olive Garden is like comfort food. You know what you're going to get when you get there. The first time I went to the Olive Garden in NY, I couldn't believe I was actually eating there considering how many great Italian restaurants we have in New York. It was after an RWA NYC meeting. The food wasn't that great, but hanging out with my friends was. I've only been back once, but again, I had an awesome time, plus the pasta was only $9.95 which is mega cheap for New York.

So, despite the cheesy commercials and the so-so food, I will continue to eat occasionally at The Olive Garden.

Guilty Pleasures: National Treasure/National Treasure: Book of Secrets

I feel guilty even typing these words, but one of my newest guilty pleasures are the two movies, National Treasure, and National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets starring Nicolas Cage. Remember when Nic Cage won the Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas? Before he decided to spend all his money on expensive real estate and comic books? Before he married a waitress half his age and named his son after Superman? Or before that when he married Lisa Marie Presley because he has an Elvis fixation? Whatever happened to that Nic Cage?

That's a topic for another blog post. I remember when I went to see the first National Treasure movie with a good friend of mine. It was so over the top cheesy that I couldn't believe it. And we paid full price to see it. But it had Sean Bean in, and I'll pretty much watch him read the phone book. Now whenever, I see the movies on either TNT or whatever other channel they are on, I can't help myself. I will stop and watch them. I even took the second one out of the library because I was feeling down and needed to cheer myself up.

In each movie, Nic Cage has to discover something that usually has to do with an ancestor of his. In the first film archaeologist Ben Gates searches for a chest of riches rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin during the Revolutionary War. The chest's whereabouts may lie in secret clues embedded in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and Gates is in a race to find the gold before his enemies do. In the second film, he has to clear one of his ancestor's names, who has been accused of being one of the conspirators to kill Lincoln. Also, he has to find the lost treasure of Eldorado which is conventiently located under Mount Rushmore.

I'm not sure what it is about these movies that I love so much. The fact that they make absolutely no sense when you sit down and think about them? The fact that in the first film, he has to steal the Declaration of Independence and gets way with it? Or that when he finally finds the treasure, it looks like the kind of tchotchkes that were in my grandmother's china cabinet? You know those 'antiques' that look like they come from the Franklin Mint? In the second film, he kidnaps the President of the United States, who looks like he's having a good time, and then Ben steals The Book of Secrets from the Library of Congress, not to mention that he manages to wander around both Buckingham Palace and the White House without getting caught.

In the first film, you have 2 Oscar winners, Nic Cage and Jon Voight. In the 2nd, you have Cage, Voight, Helen Mirren (as Nic Cage's mother no less), and Ed Harris (Academy Award nominee). Oh and Harvey Keitel, who plays the FBI agent on Ben's tail. Everyone looks like they are actually enjoying themselves in the films, and not just collecting a paycheck. And whoever the writers are, they do have a certain amount of knowledge about American history. It's nice to see a film about treasure hunting that involves the US and not Europe or the Middle East.

I love Diane Kruger's Abigail, who reluctantly ends up getting involved in Ben's plans. She's actually charming and funny in both of films. Both of these films have clearly be influenced by Dan Brown. Seriously they should give Dan Brown points on the film, because I have no doubt that these films wouldn't have been made if it hadn't been for The Da Vinci Code. I'm dying to know if they are going to do a 3rd film, and if they do, you just know that I will be there to see it.

Good cheesy fun, and who doesn't like cheese?

Guilty Pleasures: The Graham Norton Show

I hate to admit this but I don't watch any of the late night American chat shows. Not Letterman, or Conan or Jay Leno. Not even Craig Ferguson and he's at least Scottish. I have only a nodding acquaintance with Jimmy Kimmel and that's solely through watching "I'm f*#*ing Matt Damon" and it's sequel on YouTube. Jon Stewart yes, but he's not really a chat show, and I'm learning about important issues about of the day, so Jon Stewart is actually good for me. The only time I've ever really watched them was when I was working my night job at IAG and I was getting paid to stay up that late to watch stale jokes and actors pimping movies that they made over a year ago.

However, I will watch The Graham Norton show on BBC America. Maybe it's Norton's puckish Irish charm and irreverance. Or the fact that he's incredibly camp and flamboyant. He doesn't seem to care that he's talking to stars or reality TV celebrities or models. He treats them all the same. Plus the guests are allowed to drink on stage which adds to the general looseness of the program. Seriously, if Leno and his guests were sharing a brewsky, I might actually watch the program. Plus what I love about The Graham Norton show is that he also treats the people in the audience the same way that he treats his guests. I would cheerfully sit in his audience for the hope of having him take the piss out of me.  Seriously, I would love to add him to my UK gay husbands.

Watching Graham Norton, I've learned about web-sites like Upside Down Dogs, Teapot Blowing and other WTF'kery as Katiebabs likes to call it. He's even done theme nights like the show where all his guests were Welsh including Dame Shirley Bassey (I love her), Michael Sheen (whose father is a professional Jack Nicolson impersonator) and some comedian I've never heard of. I've also learned of the mythical kingdom called Benedorm, which is apparently another place in Spain that Brits have ruined. One of my favorite show was when Dawn French and Rod Stewart was on and Norton was ragging on her about her list of famous people that she's kissed and she replied that Rod was next and his wife Penny was okay with it.  Then there was the time that Patsy Kensit was on, and they talked about this show Who Do You Think You Are? (which Lisa Kudrow is producing for NBC), and while she revealed that her paternal line is full of criminals Graham just complained that all he learned was that he was Irish, and he knew that already. The Graham Norton Show (and Jonathan Ross) are the only shows where I can see British actors and celebrities that I've only read about in Hello! Magazine. And he puts together such an ecletic mix. One night he had Jackie Collins and Katie Price aka Jordan on the show (and if you don't know who Katie Price, I would look her up on Wikipedia).

He also has a feature he does at the end of the show where audience members sit in a chair and they have to tell a story. If he thinks it sucks, then he pulls a lever and the chair goes backwards. Sort of like The Gong Show gone wrong. He also used to have a callbox rigged up on the Thames near the studio which he would call to see if people picked up. Awesomeness. Sometimes I can't believe the BBC lets him get away with some of the stuff he says and does. He also hosted How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria and ANY DREAM WILL DO, the two TV competitions that Andrew Lloyd Webber did to find stars for his new West End Shows. After watching him host these shows, I really wished they'd fire Ryan Seacrest and hire him to do AMERICAN IDOL.

I eagerly await the next season of the show on BBC America. And in the meantime, I will content myself with re-runs.

Guilty Pleasures: Twizzlers

I have a huge sweet tooth, there is no denying it, and one of the candies that I love the most are Twizzlers. And I'm one of those people who can't just stop at one piece. If I buy a bag of Twizzlers, I will eat the whole bag in one sitting, if I'm not careful. Which is why I try not eat Twizzlers too often.

According to Wikipedia and the Hershey web-site, Twizzlers were first manufactured by the Y&S Candies, one of the oldest confectionery firms in the United States. The company was established in 1845 as Young and Smylie and adopted Y&S as its trademark in 1870. National Licorice Company was created in 1902 through the merger of three small firms: Young & Smylie, S.V. & F.P. Schudder and H.W. Petherbridge. The company changed its name to Y&S Candies Inc. in 1968 and was acquired by Hershey Foods in 1977.
Today TWIZZLERS candy is available in a variety of flavors and styles, strawberry, true black licorice, cherry, and chocolate flavored licorice-style candy.

I love them all but it's the chocolate that I really love which makes no sense because I think that Hershey's chocolate tastes like ear wax but somehow it works with licorice.

Guilty Pleasures: Harlequin Presents

When I was about ten or eleven years old, I discovered Harlequin Presents. I don't really remember how. I might have been trolling the front of the Coliseum bookstore or the racks of book at Woolworth's (remember them?). I do know that once I read my first HP, I couldn't stop. I used to devour them the way I still devour Twizzlers (Seriously if I have a bag I can't eat just one, especially chocolate Twizzlers). They were the first romances that I ever read, and I read them primarily because there was a hint of sex in them. This was before I discovered Dell Candlelight Ecstasy's which were more graphic.

Each month, I would take my allowance, go down to the bookstore and buy the entire line of books which were about 6 a month I think even back then. I adored Janet Daily's books because she was the only author at the time who was American. She set each of her HP's in a different state, eventually ending up in the Guiness Book of World Records for her feat. But it was the ones that were set in England that I adored. Dark, brooding heroes, young heroines, I was so sure the minute that I set foot in England I would find my own HP hero (Didn't exactly happen like that although one of my dearest friends, who is English, actually looks like an HP hero come to life but I met him in NY doing a play.)

The plots usually involved a much older hero, who seduces, blackmails etc. the heroine into marrying him. Generally because her father/brother is embezzling from the hero's company to pay for his wife/mother/grlfriend's surgery. Once I read one where the heroine had a brain tumor and was taking a world cruise and she met the hero who of course was a neurosurgeon. He performed surgery, I kid you not, on board the ship. Can you magine Doc from The Love Boat doing that? Over the years, I stopped reading Harlequin Presents as I became enamored of other category series, Silhouette Desire, Harlequin Temptation, Blaze, Loveswept. Finally I stopped reading category altogether apart from my friends who write it. The books seemed so formulaic and I got tired of cowboys, amnesia,  and secret babies. I read mainly mysteries, historical fiction, biographies, chick-lit and historical and contemporary romance. Everything but category and particularly Harlequin Presents.

The titles were cheesy, HER PREGNANCY OF REVENGE, THE SHEIKH'S IMPATIENT VIRGIN, HIS MISTRESS FOR A MILLION. And they were so easy to parody. Google The Unseemly Tall Greek Billionaire's Virgin Secretary's Martyr Complex and you'll see what I mean. They had the same white covers though whereas every other Harlequin series has had a makeover. For some reason though, I've found myself drawn to them again. I blame Julie Cohen and Eloisa James. Eloisa has written about her love for Harlequin Presents and I discovered Julie's books when they reprinted here in the US (They were first published as Modern Heat in the UK and HP Extra here).

I've discovered authors like Marion Lennox, Kate Hardy, Ally Blake, India Grey, Susan Napier and one of my favorites Jane Porter I still cringe at the covers and I don't read the ones where the hero is a sheik or the heroine isn't feisty and gives the hero as hard of a time as he does her. I find them comfortingly retro. The heroes are still tall, dark, Alpha Males who brood and are dangerous. They are almost always foreign, billionaires or royalty. The settings are usually exotic locales, mainly in the Mediterranean. They are glitzy and glamorous, a Judith Krantz or Jilly Cooper novel shrunk to fit 182 pages. They take me back to my days when I was an awkward pre-teen who had crushes on Parker Stevenson of The Hardy Boys and Harrison Ford. Although I don't write category, HP are the only ones (along with Desire) that I would want to write for. Seriously, I have thought of writing THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE'S PISSED OFF PREGNANT MISTRESS. I even have a pseudonym picked out.

Right now, I'm reading Caitlin Crews PURE PRINCESS, BARTERED BRIDE and loving it. The hero is Luc Garnier, who has been burned by the scandalous lives of his parents. He's determined to marry a woman with a spotless reputation. Because he's rich, he's able to buy the heir to the throne of Miravakia, Princess Gabrielle. He's ruthless, and mean but she's determined not to let him crush her. After their wedding, she flees to LA, where he finds her and makes mad, passionate love to her repeatedly. Of course, there is a terrible misunderstanding and it makes total sense within the context of the book and is actually pretty cool. I will definitely buy any book that she writes.

Some web-sites to peruse: http://www.iheartpresents.com/ and http://sensationalromance.blogspot.com/

Guilty Pleasures: Guiliana and Bill

As much as I try to stay away from it, reality TV keeps sucking me back in, and the latest show to get me hooked is Guiliana and Bill on The Style Network. For those who don't know the happy couple, Guiliana De Pandi (as she was then known) is the co-host of E! News Daily with Ryan Seacrest. She interviewed Bill Rancic, the winner of the first The Apprentice and asked him if he was dating anyone. He wasn't, and soon they were dating. They got married two years ago, and now have their own reality show.

One of the reasons I like this show is that they are grappling with a long-distance relationship, living in between Chicago and Los Angeles. Since Guiliana is the co-host of E! News Daily and has been for several years, her career is in Los Angeles. I'm not sure why Rancic won't leave Chicago. He says that he has business interests in real estate. He also works as a motivational speaker. Anyway, now that they are trying to have a baby, at some point, something is going to have to go, and I'm interested to see how this all going to pan out.

Guiliana and Bill seem to be complete opposites. He's more down to earth, while she's goofy and outgoing. The relationship between her and her assistant Matthew is hysterical, he's almost like a third wheel in her relationship with Bill since he seems to travel with her whenever she's in Chicago. At times, Guiliana can be incredibly annoying, and I love Bill's reactions whenever she does something that he thinks is crazy like Sunday night when she put on a pair of maternity panties on over her regular pants. Yet, they seem to compliment each other, and I'm hoping that they won't end up like other couples who have let the cameras in on their relationship. I think they produce the show as well, which is probably smart. They can control exactly what they show and what they don't show.

Guiliana and Bill is on Sunday nights on the Style Network at 9:00 p.m. Check it out and see if you are not charmed by the two of them.

Guilty Pleasures

Yes, it's soon to be another cycle of America's Next Top Model, and this time, there is a transgender model instead of a plus-size! And then there's Dancing with the Stars, with Erica Kane herself, Susan Lucci as one of the contestants (Although it hasn't been confirmed yet, Tony Dovolani was at the dance studio I go to with Susan Lucci filming. Shh!). Chloris Leachman is also rumored which frightens me greatly. I'm not sure octogenarians should compete on reality TV shows. That's not ageist, I'm just worried about her breaking a hip. Brooke Burke and Kim Kardashian are total eye candy. Edyta is going to have some competition in the skimpy costume stakes.

But that's in the future. My current guilty pleasure resides on CMT. Yes, Country Music Television has two of the best reality shows on TV, Gone Country and Outsiders Inn.

The first series of Gone Country came on earlier this year. The premise is take a bunch of celebrities, put them up in a house in Nashville, have them work on a song, and then John Rich of Big & Rich will produce the winner. Carnie Wilson (is there a reality show she hasn't been on?), Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Bobby Brown, Sisqo, Diana DeGarmo, Maureen McCormick and Julio Iglesias Jr. were the celebrities and it was hilarious. From Bobby Brown's sleepwalking pee fests to Dee Snider and his coffee fixation, this show was Must See TV. Although I'm a little puzzled as to how Julio Iglesias Jr. won apart from the whole trying to court the Latino community aspect. His song wasn't country at all.

Now we are on to Season 2, and it's a pisser. Sebastian Bach, Chris Kirkpatrick from NYSYNC (Bach hilariously had no idea who Chris was when they met at the airport. Lance Bass he knew, Chris no), Irene Cara (who skips out I think after tonight's episode), American Idol reject Mikalah Gordon, Jermaine Jackson, Lorenzo Lamas, and drumroll please, that hot tranny mess herself Sean Young. Already in episode 1, Sean proved she was a car wreck waiting to happen. The kicker was Jermaine Jackson telling John Rich that the Jackson 5 were trying to be country singers before they went to R&B! (Can you just see Michael Jackson at the Grand Ole Opry?).

After that 1/2 of merriment, we get the Outsiders Inn, where Maureen McCormick, Bobby Brown and Carnie Wilson try to run the worst bed & breakfast inn in Cocke County, TN. Already, they've picked Larry, Darryl and his other brother Darryl as handymen. Bobby had his first taste of moonshine, and Maureen shook her finger at Bobby in the kitchen for bringing home guests for dinner without telling her. All's well that ends well, when the uninvited guests sang the favorite song of the old married couple who were staying at the inn.

I cannot wait to watch tonight's episodes.

Movie Madness

Even though the weather was gorgeous this weekend, I spent most of it in the library, doing research for my WIP, and also editing said WIP (I need to cut 4 pages out of the chapter from hell since it now is 15 pages and I still haven't finished it yet). But I still found time to watch 3 movies that I took out of the library.

Movie #1 was Miss Potter, about Beatrix Potter and her relationship with Henry Warne. I really wanted to enjoy this movie, but I couldn't get over Renee Zwellweger and her Bridget Jones accent. I know its mean of me, but I just couldn't imagine her sitting down and creating Peter Rabbit and the cutesy moments when the drawings came to life just didn't do it for me.

Movie #2 was Pirates of the Carribbean, something about the World's End, which came out last summer. This thing was almost 3 hours long and it bored me silly. I had no idea what was going on half the time and I didn't really care. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow wore thin about the middle of the second movie. In this sequel there were way too many of him, and I didn't get the ending, although it appeared that they were setting it up for Pirates of the Carribbean 4, God forbid. Seriously, none of the actors can need the money that much that they would agree to a 4th movie.

Movie #3 was Shoot'Em Up, which is worth it only if you are a serious Clive Owen fan or you like excessive violence. I hated this movie with a passion and I love Clive Owen. I would fight Megan for Clive Owen, if he came to New York and said he had divorced his wife. This movie, meh. Although it was amusing to see Paul Giametti as a hitman, who has a crew of men who couldn't hit the side of a barn, let alone Clive Owen since at no time did any of them seriously hit him, despite the hail of bullets that they let fly. Interesting love scene though. And why was Monica Belluci in this film? Seriously, stay in Europe, honey where they know what to do with you.

So, 3 movies, 3 not very good experiences. The best part of my weekend was discovering my new guilty pleasure, Viva Hollywood on Vh-1, which is hysterical. 12 Latino actors in a house competing to see who will be the next telenovela star for Telemundo. I love this show from the contestants to the bad scripts to the weird astrologer guy Walter Mercado who looks kinda like a man/woman (see Bobby Trendy) to the 7 Deadly Sins of Telenovelas. Plus it stars Maria Conchita Alonso and Charo shows up in an episode.

Thanks for reading,

EKM